Microsoft will reap a windfall of revenue as soon as it introduces versions of its Office productivity suite for iOS and Android, but that window of opportunity is quickly closing, an analyst said today.
"The day they introduce Office for iOS and Android, they'll start printing money," said Bob O'Donnell of research firm IDC. "But if they wait too long, they risk people finding alternatives, or workarounds."
Talk of Microsoft creating native apps for Apple's iOS, which powers the iPad, and for Google's Android, the operating system used by Samsung and most other tablet makers, has circulated for years. The speculation hit a high note last November when The Verge reported that Microsoft would release iOS apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint in late February or early March 2013, followed in May by software for Android.

If Microsoft's plan is to actually require an Office 365 subscription in order to edit on iOS/Android, then this is destined to fail. Office 365 hasn't been well received, and forcing people to pay for a subscription won't work.

I just don't understand why they don't follow suit with Apple. They can't sell MS Office as a suite because of Apple's restrictions. Fine....sell each app individually. I think they could even overcharge.....

Each app could be anywhere from 19.99 to 29.99 and it would sell like hot cakes. Give it easy integration with SharePoint, Office 365, DropBox, box.net and SkyDrive and you have solid gold winner.

Instead they will focus on surface and the crazy subscription model for iOS and it will all fizzle just like Zune and Surface RT.